Does anyone agree with fuel conspiracy

Question

I am almost certain that the government is paying off car companies to make less efficient cars. proof? the Volkswagen lupo this car was put into production 10 years ago. in europe and gets 80mpg that's a lot more than the toyota prius. the lupo was not even a hybrid (can you imagine if it was). i'm kinda mad and i think other people should be to that's why i'm bringing this to your attention. does anyone have any other examples.http://www.usatoday.com/money/consumer/autos/mareview/mauto497.htm

dont have to watch the whole thing just skip to the end http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z271u0bckd8

Answer 1

They make cars for  the European market(which has always had high has prices but everybody lived fairly close together)  And they make different cars for the North American market.   (lots of roads and miles and miles of travel - cars had to have bigger motors and more luxury items and speed to compete as gas was cheap. Now add to it, safety features which add weight)   For the Asian market, small cars again.

  You want a Lupo?  The single cylinder model standard shift with nothing else inside?   Don't think so.  Top end 40 mph.  Again, don't think so..

  Buicks and Cadillacs don't sell in Europe either.

Answer 2

Japanese made the most efficient car.  so  it is not true that government is controlling the efficient car production.  for a standard car, you could get 40 and 45mpg at most.  

Answer 3

When the VW Lupo/Polo meets US crash/safety tests, and the US emissions tests (difficult for diesels to meet), then we'll start seeing them here in the US.

Then, US buyers have to be willing to accept diesels again...  And not be scared of microcars...

Do be careful of quoting MPG figures of vehicles tested in other countries.  The US/EPA fuel economy test cycles are surprisingly the most stringent tests...  Also, outside of the US they use Imperial gallons, which are larger than US gallons, so Imperial MPG figures are larger than US MPG figures.

For example, the Toyota Prius:

US/EPA:  46mpg (US) combined = 55.2mpg (Imperial)

http://fueleconomy.gov/f*g/noframes/2488...

UK:  65.7mpg (Imperial) combined = 54.7mpg (US)

http://www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk/search/...

BTW: the story about the amazingly high MPG car that was reclaimed by the manufacturer and returned to the owner with the modification removed and back to a normal MPG...  it's an old urban legend.  see:  http://www.snopes.com/autos/business/car...

Answer 4

I think the government is playing a role in that, but not in the way everyone thinks. The major issue I see is getting people to buy these cars.

Here in the US, we like things like power, size, comfort, A/C, automatic transmissions, power steering, power brakes and other luxuries. You convince tens of thousands of Americans to give up all of those things, then that car may sell here. If VW were to try to sell the Lupo in it's current incarnation here, they wouldn't sell nearly enough to make it worth their while. There is also the factor of safety (this is where the governemt comes in). They do not mention how safe this thing is.

Here in the US, we are a car culture. We spenf large amounts of time in our cars and expect them to have some basic luxuries (almost all of which these types of cars lack). Just because a government conspiracy is the easiest theory to accpet, does not mean it's true.

Answer 5

of course... the technology is there...its been there for over 40 years.

our cars should be running on water but the powers that be will not allow that to happen...but times are a changin!

Good luck

Answer 6

B.S.

The U.S. is FORCING car makers to meet the C.A.F.E. (corporate average fuel economy) fuel mileage standards, and they are now trying to RAISE that standard higher.

Answer 7

No I do NOT AGREE.

The fault lie in us, not in the Stars (and stripes).

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When you (and everybody you know) bought their last car (before this year) how many people bought it because of great gas mileage?  NOBODY!  

My 94 Civic gets 41 mpg. The secret is NO secret.  It weights just 2300 lbs.  But that didn't sell cars. Horse POWER sold cars.  So in the last 15 years the average HP has increase by 50 to 100HP and average car is 1000 lb heavier now.

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WE bought crappy low MPG cars.

Good Luck...

Answer 8

so true was watching this tv show one day where this family bought an american car it had a test modification in the engine that gave it great gas milage , the manufacture sold the car by accident , the family made a dumb mistake and sent a thank you letter to the Mfgr , about the great gas milage they were getting and the manufacture went over and stole the modifaction out of the engine !  

Answer 9

You are just a paranoid whiney kid that doesn't get it. The lupo was not a hybrid.  It had a feature that is used in golf carts, when you stop, the engines stops.  When you push on the gas pedal, it took a few seconds (with horns blasting) to start.  It didn't meet safety requirements nor pollution requirements. It was made of magnesium, which is very expensive.  It was modle of what could be done, but not what is a practicle cost effective mode of transsportation.

Yes YOUand YOUR elected officials have selected Safety, cleanliness, and convinience over mileage.

Answer 10

They don't think they would sell here as people want fast 0 to 60 times.I'd rather get 80 mpg at 120 mph.